Racing series           NASCAR-CUP
Date    2004-04-24

RICKY RUDD - No. 21 - Keep It Genuine Taurus (Qualified 1st)

Ricky Rudd Pole-Winning Interview

"It's just a great day for the Wood Brothers. I can't say enough about
it. The Yates-Roush motor combination and all the guys on the Motorcraft
team have been working really hard trying to put this together and it paid
off and today was the day. We've got the old retro paint scheme, so this
couldn't be a better day for the Wood Brothers."

THIS IS THE FIRST POLE FOR THE WOOD BROTHERS SINCE BUDDY BAKER AT ATLANTA IN 1984.

"That's a pretty amazing stat. I remember coming up in the sport and
when you went to Charlotte, it was a given that the Wood Brothers and David
Pearson were gonna sit on the pole. Later, Neil Bonnett tookover that and
it was a given. Now to come here, it's been so long. It's hard to believe
it's been that long since the Wood Brothers won a pole, but the best thing
about the whole weekend is I get to watch Eddie Wood walk around in a pink
hat the rest of the week. That's part of a bet he had with Judi (Moritz),
one of our sponsors (Motorcraft), so I get to see that all week."

Ricky Rudd Press Conference

"I knew we were fast. It really starts back in winter testing. We had
a car that was very fast during winter testing. We led winter testing. We
went to Daytona and qualified fifth-fastest and were within a tenth of the
pole speed there. We brought the same car back and the guys took it back
home and worked on it and massaged on it and made it a little bit better
yet. They got it driving better, which it didn't do real good at Daytona,
and it's driving good here. Before we got here I felt like we had a shot at
it and a top five was within reason, but you try to not get too excited
about it and get caught up in it because it's a long fall if you're sitting
here thinking you've got this pole. We did watch pretty hard in the
transporter. After we made our run we watched everybody run. Obviously,
Earnhardt, Jr. was probably our biggest concern and sort of dodged that
bullet."

DID YOU FEEL IT WAS A POTENTIAL POLE WINNING RUN?

"I think a lot of people were sort of watching us because we were the
fastest going into qualifying, but anyone I talked to I told them not to go
by that because we got help when we made our attempted qualifying run. It
wasn't on purpose, but it was just the way the traffic jam ended up being,
so we didn't know how fast we could go. We were pretty close to
duplicating. We actually ran a little bit better than we did at practice. I
wouldn't say I was surprised about it, I'm very happy for it, but I figured
we'd run a .10 and we ran a flat."

IT'S BEEN 20 YEARS SINCE THE WOODS WON A POLE.

"First of all, I'm surprised. When I started racing David Pearson,
especially when we went to Charlotte, he sat on every pole there ever was
there. I just remember that team being associated with a lot of poles. I
was really surprised when I heard it was 20 years. Certainly somewhere
along the way I thought they had one since then, but I'm just glad to be a
part of it. I didn't have a whole lot to do with it, I just happened to be
the lucky guy that sat behind the wheel today and held onto the steering
wheel. Ben Leslie and all the guys on the Motorcraft team did an excellent
job preparing this car, and I have to thank Ford Motor Company. We had some
wind tunnel time thrown our way and donated our way. Bernie (Marcus) from
Ford was instrumental in helping this thing run and I just happened to be
sitting in the right place at the right time. But it's sort of amazing it's
been that long."

DOES THE POLE MEAN LESS AT THIS TRACK THAN ANY OTHER AND CAN THIS POSE A
THREAT TO DEI?

"I'd say if you go back a couple years when you were allowed to change
motors and transmissions that you would probably say it makes no bearing
whatsoever on the outcome of the race. When NASCAR mandated that you run
the same motor, that sort of changed things a little bit. It put a little
more value in the guy that sits on the pole is maybe gonna be a factor in
the race. I would say probably taking your analogy is that we can be
leading this thing on one lap and we could be running dead last the next
lap and will probably do so sometime during the day - as even the DEI cars
will probably do during the day, which have been so dominant here. There is
no guarantee here. I've come here the last couple of years - three years,
four years, whatever that number is - the DEI cars have definitely been the
cars to beat. They've been the cars to beat in qualifying and they've been
the cars to beat in the race. We were fortunate that we were able to outrun
a couple of them today, so we've got part A right. We've just got to do
part B right and that's the big one - race day. To sit here and tell you
that we're the greatest car to come here in many years and we're gonna blow
those guys away, I guess if I wanted to get a little hype going and stir up
some controversy I'd say that, but I think the real world is a question
mark. Somewhere along the line, whether it's this weekend or three years
from now or five years from now that dominance will stop and somebody else
is gonna win the race that day. Are we the guys to do that? I can't answer
that. But somewhere along the way it will change and, hopefully, it's this
weekend."

ARE WE SEEING A VETERAN REVIVAL?

"You mean the old guys are getting it done this last couple of weeks
(laughing). I sat there and watched Rusty in his interviews last week and
that was a pretty neat deal. He won that race hands-down. He ran good. His
hair isn't as white as mine, but I noticed he doesn't have quite as much
hair on the top of his head that he used to have. So, anyway, for the old
guys it's a pretty neat seven day period. It would be nice to pull it off
on race day. Hopefully, we can do it. I don't think age has anything to do
with last week or this week, but it's pretty neat to see some of the older
guys doing something."

HOW DO YOU LIKE RESTRICTOR PLATE RACING?

"I don't. I'd prefer to have the plates gone and race without the
plates. The only reason I say that is I came and ran down here for years
without the plates and I've tasted it both ways. I understand the need for
it, don't get me wrong, and I don't have a better solution than what we're
running right now. But what I liked about the non-plate days is we ran
speeds where handling became a huge issue in the race and the field did get
separated and it was separated by the cars that handled good, which is
pretty much what we see week in and week out at any race - they get
separated by handling. The restrictor plates today, it doesn't really
separate the field by handling, it's more about how fast you are in the
straightaway. From that aspect, I kind of miss the old days but understand
the necessity of having the restrictor plates today. But to answer the
question, I like the old days better, but you can't look back."

HOW DOES THIS HELP THE TEAM?

"It's definitely a positive thing to happen for the team, which there
haven't been a whole lot of positives all year long really. I think you go
back to Daytona, I think we qualified fifth on the clock and we led our 125
race for about half the race and ended up finishing sixth or eighth or
something like that. That's probably been the highlight. It's been way back
at Daytona since we had anything positive happen at all. We have seen some
improvements. Last week at Martinsville we were shaping up to have a good
solid top 10. We were 13th with about 180 laps to go and Kasey Kahne and I
got together and I had a flat tire and that just killed our day. We were
able to make one of the laps up on the race track by passing the leader and
the caution came out, but, anyway, I look at the results and they sort of
speak for themselves. You don't really see a whole lot of positive coming
out of that, other than the fact the guys that work on the car saw the car
actually go up front, pass the leader and get out in front of the pack,
which is the first time all year we've been fast. We've come to Talladega
and we're fast down here. I don't think this has a huge bearing on the
outcome of the race, but it's definitely a positive and a shot of
confidence in the arm for the guys that spend so many hours back at the
shop and haven't had anything good happen. So now all of a sudden we have
some good things going on."

WERE THERE ANY SUPERSTITIONS IN THE TRUCK?

"We were sitting in the hauler watching qualifying and as it was
winding down, it was overcrowded inside the transporter watching the TV. A
couple of them got up and were gonna make room and Eddie said, 'Sit back
down. You're not leaving here. You're not gonna jinx us now. You're gonna
sit right down there until this thing is over with.' The most enjoyment I'm
gonna get out of this pole all week long is watching Eddie Wood where a
pink hat until Sunday evening. He's got to wear a pink hat on a bet - if we
qualified in the top five he was gonna wear this pink hat, so he's sporting
a nice pink hat all weekend."

WILL THIS RACE BE LIKE DAYTONA?

"They did get spread out at Daytona. I know the Goodyear tire got a
lot of the blame for breaking up the packs and people were complaining a
little bit about front ends pushing down there. But the real deal is the
spoiler change on the cars shifted the aero-balance more to a tight
situation. I think what you'll see here, you're not gonna see the packs
break up like you did at Daytona. You're gonna see everybody hang together
as a group because the arc of the corner is not as sharp here and aero-push
is not something you're gonna hear about at Talladega. You're gonna have
drivers not having to crack the throttle because they're gonna hit the
front end on the wall coming off the corner. That won't be an issue here at
Talladega, so I think it's gonna re-group the cars. It's gonna bunch 'em up
kind of like typical Talladega racing." 

WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO BREAK THE DEI DOMINANCE LIKE BIFFLE DID AT DAYTONA?

"Yeah, I think Greg won the race and we finished third or fourth. Not
taking anything away from Greg, but he wasn't the dominant car at Daytona.
The DEI cars have shown that dominance for a while and you're gonna have to
have good equipment, good cars and good preparation. I feel real happy
about what we've got. I think it's gonna race well. We'll see when we get
in race trim. I don't know for a fact, but I hear people tell about the
hours and development they spend on their speedway program - kind of like
the Larry McClure team and the 4 car was a dominant car for so many years.
They probably blew 85 percent of their budget getting ready for these
speedway races and the DEI cars have got a lot of effort into that. As time
goes along, information sort of filters out on what projects they've been
working on over the years and that educates a lot of teams. They go to work
and then they take that and they carry it a step farther, but one day
they're gonna be beat. If you ask them, they'll probably tell you the same
thing. What's it gonna take? You're gonna have to have your act together
for sure, or you back into one, or you catch a break with a caution falling
or something like that. But if you're gonna go out and beat
'em, I like to beat 'em on the race track. If they do get beat, have somebody
do it outright and just outmuscle them. The day will come. I have no idea
when it's gonna be, but there will be a new leader in that group."

IS THAT A YATES-ROUSH ENGINE?

"Yeah, technically I think it's the Roush-Yates combination, which
makes good power. I'm sure, I don't know if they chassis dyno these things,
but we're looking good in that area. We're real happy with that."

IS THAT A STEP FORWARD IN THAT PROGRAM?

"The motor combination has been really strong this year. The motor is
not really an issue when we go to the race track. Last year we had some
great motors and we had some motors that were a little weak at times. What
happens is you go to the race track and you're off the pace and you say,
'Well, gosh, maybe we're getting beat on horsepower a little bit.' With
this new combination, you go to the race track and if you're not fast on
the watch, you can pretty much rule out that it's not an engine issue. You
better go to work on the race car and get it handling better because it
normally comes down to handling now. I guess it's one more element in the
equation that you don't have to worry about when you come down here."

DO YOU THINK THIS MIGHT BE MORE DEMANDING THAN DAYTONA?

"I think anytime you race three-wide or four-wide all day long, it is
a more mentally demanding race track. It's not that physical, but you're
having to really pay attention and you're having to really stay on top of
the steering wheel all day long. So in that aspect, I'd have to say it's
gonna be more mentally fatiguing for sure because you're gonna be in the
packs and you're gonna be running three-wide and four-wide. It's pretty
typical Talladega. I don't think you're gonna see anything different than
you have the last time we were here. This race track, they sort of play
with the rules quite a bit - roof spoilers and I can't think of how many
things they've tried to maybe break the packs up a little bit, but they
haven't ever seemed to find a combination at Talladega to do that. This
race is not gonna be any different. It depends on what your interpretation
of great racing is, but you're definitely gonna see one large pack running
together."

CAN YOU TALK MORE ABOUT THIS BET?

"I think the bet was with Judi Moritz, who is the Motorcraft
representative. It just kind of started on a whim and as a joke, really,
but I will say that Eddie proudly put on his pink hat when the last car ran
in qualifying. I'm kind of wondering about the boy. He kind of likes that
pink hat an awful lot (laughing)."

HOW OFTEN TO THE ORIGINAL WOOD BROTHERS COME AROUND?

"Leonard Wood is still actively involved on a daily basis in the race
shop. He's still a brilliant man. He's kind of a little Einstein. They lock
him up in a corner in the back and he whittles on things. I haven't quite
figured out what Leonard does all the time, but he makes a lot of parts, I
know that. He kind of just whittles on stuff, but he makes a major
contribution to this race team, especially this weekend. Glen obviously
comes around, but since the team moved to Charlotte I don't see as much of
him. He's probably there a lot, but I only get by the shop maybe once a
week.

"I'm not good with names, but Delano and there are quite a few other
ones that I've sort of lost track of over the years. I don't know if Eddie
is here to answer those questions, but I see Leonard quite frequently. He's
here at every race track. Every race he's here and then Glen and Eddie and
Len. There are a whole bunch of them still around."

DID YOU SENSE ANY MAGIC WHEN DRIVING AROUND TODAY? "Really, it was a
pretty uneventful lap. I didn't see anything going on really crazy. These
poles are won and lost back at the shop. We've got a great group of guys
together, led by Ben Leslie that work on this thing, but I didn't see any
funny things going on. They didn't tell me about hitting any special
buttons or anything when I was in the car, so I didn't have to worry about
any of that."

PEARSON SAID HE FELT IT WAS A RADIO-CONTROLLED CAR.

"It was amazing. I was around during that time and just getting
started, but everytime you went to Charlotte people thought they had 'em
covered - kind of like the DEI cars have done here for so many years -
they'd go there and, sure enough, qualifying would be over and there's
Pearson on the pole again."

DOES THIS POLE MEAN MORE TO THE GUYS AT THE SHOP?

"That's a good point and that's exactly right. These guys need a
tremendous shot in the arm right now. If we'd have won a pole at Richmond
or Martinsville or somewhere like that, a driver has a lot to do with it
there and it would probably take away from some of the effort those guys
have done. If we go to a road course and I sat on the pole, it probably
wouldn't be a huge surprise. You come here and it's all about team effort.
Right now, these guys need a big confidence booster and what better way to
do it than at a crew member's race track. You ask any driver in the garage
area, it's the effort that goes into the wind tunnel results and how hard
these guys work it and how much midnight oil they burn speaks for itself
and our guys came out on top today. So, yeah, it's a tremendous boost for
those guys and they need to enjoy it because we've had a tough year."

WHAT'S THE CLOSEST YOU'VE COME TO INNING HERE?

"We finished third here maybe four times or so and each one of those
third-place finishes it all got down to maybe making the wrong decision on
who to draft with and who not to on the closing laps. Probably a couple of
years ago when Bobby Hamilton won the race, I think we finished third that
day, and I had a decision to make. The outside lane had not been the lane
to be in all day long. I tried it the whole race. Everytime I got in the
outside lane I'd get close to the front. I don't think we ever led it that
day, but I'd get greedy and I'd move to the outside to take the lead and
I'd go all the way back to like 20th. I did that all day, so finally at the
end of the race with five laps to go here comes Hamilton making a run on
the outside. He was coming and I could have moved up in front of him. I was
sitting here and said to myself,
'Don't get trapped into that sucker hole again.' I did it all day long and
would go to the back. So, here he comes and he made it work. The outside
ended up winning the race for him. I had to make a big decision - do I jump
in front of him? Now that effort on the outside is gonna push me to the
lead and it would have pushed me into the win, but I guess I had gotten
shuffled back so much during that day I said, 'Whatever I do, don't get in
that outside lane,' and that probably cost me a chance to win the race that
day."

IS THERE A GARAGE MENTALITY OF ANYBODY BUT DEI AT THESE TRACKS?

"It's hard for me to speak for the other drivers about that, but I
think anytime you have something that happens a little bit out of the
normal, you come to these race tracks for the last, I don't know 100 years,
they'd win the pole and win the race. That kind of gets boring really. We
just want to see something different, so I would have to say - no
disrespect to the effort that they've put in - but, yeah, it would be nice
to see somebody else win a pole or win a race for a change that actually
goes out there and wins it and takes it away from them. I'd like to see it,
whether it's me or somebody else. That's not meant as a negative towards
that team because they've worked for what they've got, but it would be nice
to see somebody wrestle it away from them."

DO YOU SENSE ANY URGENCY TO WIN?

"I'll tell you how urgent it is getting. There's no secret about it,
Rusty and I haven't been the best of on-track competitors over the years
and I caught myself at the end of Martinsville rooting for him (laughing).
So that's how bad it's gotten (laughing)." 

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